Clothes-pin.



No. 674,841. Patented May 2|, I90l. R. L. HORSLEY.

CLOTHES PIN.

(Application filedApr. 17, 1900.]

(No Model.)

Wilgesscs lxjamjlor,

UNTTED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

ROBERT L. HORSLEY, OF WVHITNEY, TEXAS, ASS IGNOR OF ONE-HXLF TO JAMES H. ROUNTREE, OF SAME PLACE.

CLOTHES-PIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,841, dated May 21, 1901.

Application filed April 17, 1900. I a-rial No. 13,250. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT L. HORSLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vhitney,'in the county of Hill and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Pin, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a metallic clothespin, and has for its objects to provide a clothes pin or clasp which will have a clamping-spring action and which can be conveniently manipulated to apply or remove it to and from a holding position and one wherein the clamping members mainly lie within the same plane.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts, which will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

1n the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of the improved clothes-pin. Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of the pin shown by Fig. 1, illustrating in dotted lines the position of its parts when applied. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of another form of the improved clothes-pin. Fig. 4 is an edge elevation of the pin shown by Fig. 3 and illustrating by dottedlines the position of its parts when applied. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the form of pin shown by Figs. 3 and 4 as it appears when in applied position.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the numeral 1 designates opposite side arms, which are straight and normally parallel with each other and have their terminals bent or struck over to avoid the formation of projecting points or tearing ends and prevent injury to the articlesof clothing or other articles over which the pin may be applied, and these bent portions at the ends of the side arms form shoulders or catches or hooks to prevent the pins from coming off the line and articles held by the pin, the line resting behind the should'ers or above the catches or hooks. The arms 1 are continuous with connecting-bends 2, which merge into the opposite side members 3 of an elongated looped end 4, which depends below the terminals of the arms 1, and at the point where the side members 3 approach or are adjacent to the connectingbends 2 they are contracted, but have an open space between them, so as to permit a transverse yielding movement inwardly toward each other when the pin is applied and the arms and tongue occupy opposite positions, as shown in dotted lines of Fig. 2. The tongue 4: is also within the plane of the arms 1, and likewise the bends 2, and by means of this construction a secure clamping action re sults when the pin is applied which will resist any tendency for the pin to accidentally work looseas, for instance, when the Wind is blowing and the pulling tension on the pin is very strong, owing to the clothing or articles held thereby exerting an irregular pulling strain. By having the tongue 4. depend below the terminals of the side arms 1 the application of the pin is rendered more convenient in View of the fact that the said tongue can be caught over one side of the clothesline and the article to be fastened and brace and guide the entire pin during the successive operation of positioning the arms 1.

It will be evident that when the device is applied to a line, as in Figs. 2 and 5, the loop at will act as a guide, and the pin being pushed well down on the line the latter will assume a position above the shoulders or turns in the ends of the side arms, which thus act as a lock to prevent the accidental detachment of the pin, and the middle bend or loop extending below the shoulders or turns eifectively clamps the clothes on the line between itself and the side arms.

In Fig. 3 the form of the pin is varied, and therein a tongue 5 has its lower extremity 6 deflected outwardly from the plane of the pin and in a gradual curved line. The side arms 7 are straight for a greater portion of their length, but have the lower extremities 8 deflected regularly in a direction opposite or reverse to the deflection of the tongue 5. The greater portions of the arms 7 and thetongue 5, however, are in the same plane and parallel, as shown by Fig. 4E. The deflected eX- tremities of the arms and tongue afford means for guiding the pin in its application to a clothes-line by producing an entrance-throat, as at 9, Fig. 4, and in this form of the device the same clamping action takes place as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by reason of having the several parts mainly in the same plane.

It will be seen that the clamping action in all the forms is strong by reason of the separation of the normally straight portions of the pin and which is permitted without retardation by the inwardly-yielding movement of the opposite parts of the tongue, and therefore it is possible to preserve the original contour of the pin, and thereby always have approximately the same resilient action.

It is proposed to manufacture the pins in each of its forms of a single piece of springwire of a suitable gage and of a non-corroding character, and to accommodate various applications changes in the size, proportions, and minor details may be resorted to without departing from the principle of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A clothes-pin comprising a single piece of material bent to form side arms and a central loop between said arms, said central loop extending beyond the ends of the side arms to provide a guide for the pin and said side arms being provided at their ends with turned ends or shoulders, the said pin being adapted to engage the line above said turned ends or shoulders to thereby prevent accidental removal.

2. A clothes-pin comprising side arms and a central loop between the same, the said central loop extending beyond the ends of the side arms and being widened at said extended portion, and said side arms being provided with turned ends or shoulders to engage the line to prevent the accidental removal of the pins from the line.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT L. HORSLEY.

Witnesses:

G. W. GLASS, W. F. TREAT. 

